All the small things

One of these days I'm going to come home to a scene like this.



No, not because of any river, creek, or lake swelling up, but because of my wife's tears.  Every time one of you has donated she starts to cry with joy.  In all, we have gotten rid of eight numbers, and we thank you for that.  Couple things I forgot to mention.  I said that donations are all through paypal, but I didn't think of those who don't use paypal.  You can do it through snail mail if you want.  If you wish to donate and not send pictures, that is fine also.  If it comes down to just a few pictures then we probably wont do the collage; I'm sure you might not want to be one of just a few on there.  We might just do it with our family and send it to you.  We'll see how it plays out.

My dad and step mom were back in Iowa not too long ago for the week. They live in Utah, and it's been a couple years since they came back.  We didn't do anything extravagant, but they did make a point to come see all the kids play ball while they were here. It could be viewed as just a small thing, no big deal, but I know to me and my family, it was a big thing.  When I was a kid my dad was my baseball coach, and maybe to him it was just a small thing, something he enjoyed,  teaching the kids to love the game, but to me it was huge, bigger than some could imagine.  Maybe those things we husbands do for our wives like breakfast in bed, rose petals leading to a candle lit picnic in the kids' playhouse, or a little kiss seem small, no big deal to us, but to our wives, it's huge.

A week ago Taylor had a softball game , it was the top of the 7th and we were up by 1 with two outs, ready to end the game, right?  They hit a slow grounder right to Taylor at the pitcher's circle, she fielded cleanly, set her feet, and over threw the first baseman's head, two runs score, other team ahead.  She comes back to strike out the next girl.  Bottom of the seventh, the Eagles come back to win the game.  Taylor came home that night upset and didn't want to talk, even though they won the game.  I told Sarah, in all reality it's not that big of a deal in her scheme of life, but I didn't tell Taylor that.  Who am I to tell someone else that the situation they are having at the moment is not a big deal, I suppose my job at the moment is to listen.  I knew Taylor wouldn't hold on to it, and that she would let it go, especially since her coach told her she couldn't step on the field the next day if she didn't. She loves softball too much to do that.

The very first day we had Judah (still across the ocean), I thought he would like to play with an ipod. I thought it would be a small thing that he would think was cool.  I wonder now if I hadn't done that if he would still be an electronic junkie.  It may have turned into a big thing that created a lot more work for Sarah and me.

I also corrected Judah on small behavioral things when he first got home that I wouldn't have done with my other children at that age, and I think it was a huge deal to him.  I think my mentality behind it was because he learned some of that from being in an orphanage, learning how to survive among other kids with his thinking of "this is mine stay away".

I guess my whole point behind this is that we all need to be aware of what we do each day, each hour, each minute, whether or not we feel it's insignificant or not, because a lot of the times  someone else is around and we could affect their lives. Good or bad.    I try really hard to to pay attention the small things while I'm coaching the ball teams. These kids watch you closely.  I have been really blessed to be able to coach along side three other guys that share the same philosophy.  We want these kids to go out and play hard, do their best, and fall in love with the game, and one small action or word could change that forever.  So here is a shout out to Ryan, Brad, and Nate.  Thanks guys.

 A couple years ago I started to say a prayer every morning on the way to work.  I would ask God to help me follow the Spirit's leading for the DAY.  I use to think I needed some big revelation from the Spirit on what God wanted me to do with my life, thinking that if I wasn't doing something big I was not doing enough for Him.  I think it's a lot easier  going along in life not worrying about life and what's coming up, but living in the Spirit's leading for the day.  I have gotten out of the routine of doing that everyday and I really miss it.  I think it helped me be more attentive to things I would do through out my day.

Now just imagine me dressed up in punk, standing on top of my amp,guitar in hand, with Sarah down below and her hands out like this

whipping her hair around, and me going crazy playing this.

Yeah, that's how we roll.....................................................................play.


Rock on
J